- 406 BC
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Events
By place
Greece
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Callicratidas is appointed as thenavarch of theSparta n fleet, replacingLysander . Callicratidas assembles a fleet and sails toMethymna , onLesbos , to which he lays siege. This move threatens the Athenian grain supply.
*Alcibiades is replaced by a board of generals. Athens sends a member of the board, AdmiralConon , to relieve the siege ofMytilene . To defend Lesbos, Conon is forced to move his numerically inferior fleet from Samos to the Hekatonnesi islands near Methymna. When Callicratidas attacks him, Conon is forced back to Mytilene, where he is blockaded by Callicratidas' Spartan fleet.
* Athens wins theBattle of Arginusae , near Lesbos, and the blockade of Conon is broken. To relieve Conon, the Athenians assemble a new fleet composed largely of newly constructed ships manned by inexperienced crews. This inexperienced fleet is inferior to the Spartans, but its commanders employ new and unorthodox tactics, which allow the Athenians to secure a dramatic and unexpected victory. The Spartan force is soundly defeated, and Callicratidas is killed.
* Returning to Athens after the battle,Theramenes leads Athenian agitation against the eight generals who have commanded in the engagement; the six who have returned to Athens are condemned for negligence in not having picked up survivors from the ships disabled in the battle. The Athenian generals (includingPericles ' son) are put to death.
* Sparta sues for peace, which the Athenian leader Cleophon rejects. Sparta yields to demands by the Persiansatrap Cyrus that Lysander command a fleet in the Hellespont.Roman Republic
* The Roman forces begin a decade-long siege against
Veii .Carthage
* The Carthaginians again invade
Sicily and attackAgrigentum (Acragas). Plague breaks out in their camp and Hannibal Mago dies. Himilco assumes command and captures Agrigentum (Acragas),Gela andCamarina . Gela is destroyed and its treasures sacked. The survivors take refuge in Syracuse. The plague is carried back to Carthage by its soldiers.Births
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Deaths
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Euripides , Athenian playwright (b. c.480 BC )
*Hannibal Mago , Carthagenian general
*Sophocles , Athenian dramatist andpolitician (b. c.495 BC )
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